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Leonard Johnson Reportedly Signs With Bucs

Listed as the top-rated cornerback not to be drafted this weekend, Joe has learned that Iowa State cornerback Leonard Johnson is expected to sign a free agent contract with the Bucs.

Bobby La Gesse, the sports editor of the Ames (Iowa) Tribune, Twittered tonight that Johnson and the Bucs have come to terms.

‏@BobbyLaGesse: Leonard Johnson signed a free agent contract with Tampa Bay. He’ll play for Greg Schiano, the coach he faced in the Pinstripe Bowl in Dec.

There’s another player that played against Schiano. That’s three today by Joe’s count.

Why is Joe posting an article on Johnson? He’s sort of a local prep legend. In his junior and senior years, Johnson quarterbacked his high school team, the Largo Packers, to the state semifinals only to lose each time to national powerhouse Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

30 Responses to “Leonard Johnson Reportedly Signs With Bucs”

He was projected to go in the mid rounds. I’m guessing his height and 40 time(just under 5’10 and 4.6) pushed him out of the draft but from everything I’ve read about him he is physical, aggressive and tough. Same scouting report says he’s a hard worker and very mature. He definitely sounds like a Schiano type of player. I would be worried about my roster spot if I’m Biggers, Lewis, and Gaitor(if they weren’t already because of Tandy).

Saw a couple of this guys tapes and can see why he went undrafted. He showed good instincts at times but was targeted alot by Qb’s because of his size. I think he was also more made out to play tampa 2 and different zone coverages because thats what he played in college mostly and is not a good matchup against bigger recievers in man. I hope he proves me wrong but I don’t see much here.

I can’t be on-board with the slight on E.J. Biggers. A lot of good CBs get e-luded by J-Jones. He may not be an elite corner, but he’s not rubbish, either. And who knows what some of our guys might be capable of with pro-level instruction, legitimate schemes and competent gameplans.

Biggers was and still is a total waste of a roster spot. All you “fans”, please watch tape of Biggers and check scouting reports. You will see that he’d be lucky to have a backup role with an arena team.

Curious the %of players we call up that actually end up wanting to sign here in TB. Suppose position matters but so does rep and ours has been poor in general.
I see dominik playing the Emack/Clifton smith/L Blount card heavy tonight

You people can’t be serious, EJ Biggers is terrible. He wasn’t just getting burned by 1 and 2’s, he was getting burned by all receivers. Opposing QB’s eyes light up like a kid in a candy store when he was on the field. “All Biggers has going for him is his speed” ? Well seeing how he always 3-4 steps behind the receiver, he definitely doesn’t have that going for him either. He will be extremely lucky if his is still on the team after training camp, my guess is he will be long gone or dead last on the depth if by some snowball chance in hell he makes the roster.

Nice little tidbit, Leonard Johnson was ranked #87 on Mayock’s top 100 draft prospect rankings. Says a lot about him. If he is a good as Mayock thinks he is, than we might just have gotten a hell of a steal.

I’ve been pretty hard on Biggers and wanted him cut all last year. That said, he wasn’t burned last year at all…he quit on plays. The ones he did not quit on he did well on.

Go back and watch the tape. That’s why I hated him…he took a LOT of plays off.

But if he pulls that with Schiano he’ll get axed in a heartbeat. There is no harm in letting him compete for a spot.
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“DallasBuc Says: April 29th, 2012 at 2:51 am

Curious the %of players we call up that actually end up wanting to sign here in TB. Suppose position matters but so does rep and ours has been poor in general. I see dominik playing the Emack/Clifton smith/L Blount card heavy tonight”

.

Players are no longer looking at last season. They are looking at 2010 and this off season and seeing a team that is serious about winning. The Bucs had the best draft of 32 teams (as stated by many media guys) and are considered to have had the best free agency period thus far.

National media is actually saying we will compete for the division this year.

Players WANT to come here now. Our offense alone, on paper, is good enough to reach a Superbowl this year. On paper. And if you think it can’t happen without a good defense (which we might end up having), consider the years the Raiders and Cards went.

April 28th, 2012 at 10:55 pm
Very strange that LJ went undrafted. Some had him going in the second round.

Right this very second, not knowing the defense, he is leaps and bounds ahead of E (eluded by) J (Julio Jones) Biggers – the NFL’s worst corner.

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There you go again, Thomas, showing your total ignorance on the subject of football. Leonard Johnson was not drafted because he is short with short arms… and ran a 4.71 40 at the Combine. THough he improved his time at his Pro Day into the mid-4.5 range, the damage was already done and the electronic time at the Combine is far more accurate. There are NO NFL CBs that run in the 4.7’s.

There is no way you can watch film and be able to distinguish if a player was burned or took that play off. That is plain ridiculous. Also if he was taking plays off while he still is trying to make a name for himself, he needs to be gone ASAP!! I think you need to back and watch some film buddy because it’s clear you haven’t, EJ Biggers got BURNED all year last year. You clearly weren’t watching or you are naive, or both.